One simple muscle stretch
Flexibility is good for you. In an ideal world, we’d
have time to do an hour’s stretching every day. If
you haven’t got that time, here is the single stretch
with the greatest benefit for most neck problems. It
is for the upper trapezius muscle which runs from
the point of your shoulder across to the spine and
up to the base of your skull. When you’re wearing a
backpack, this is the muscle the straps are resting
on, and it’s what you use when you shrug. It’s
usually the first one to tighten up with stress and
lots of bent forward work. When you see someone
with their shoulders held up around their ears, they
need this stretch.
This is a simple side-bending stretch, which can
be done sitting or standing. Drop one arm and
shoulder down towards the ground and stretch your
head sideways away from it, using your other hand
to pull your head towards your other shoulder. Keep
the dropped shoulder relaxed. You can bend your
head forward slightly, and rotate it a little, to pull
on different fibres of the muscle. When doing this
stretch while sitting, tuck the hand of the dropped
arm under your buttock to help keep the shoulder
dropped.
If you’re doing this at home, hold the stretch for 30
seconds, then do the same for the other side. Do
two or three stretches if you have time. In a busy
and stressful workplace, even a 10-second stretch
from time to time will usually stop the muscle
straining and tightening.
9
Home care programme
View our instruction video online
at www.bodystance.co.nz/backpod.php
To Next Page
Loading...
